FUTURE BHG PUBLICATIONS

BHG SOURCES NO 13: TOM HURSTBOURNE OR A SQUATTER’S LIFE
2010 (336 pages), John Clavering Wood, eds. Gloria Grant and Gerard Benjamin.

Five years after arriving in the infant colony of Queensland from Shropshire, 27 year old John Clavering Wood wrote a novel about the new frontier. The notebook in which he wrote his story comprised 600 handwritten pages and, on the title page, bore the date 30 January 1865. Although another novel had been written in Queensland some three years previously, it had been published in London. Tom Hurstbourne, Queensland's second novel, has never previously been published. It is well written, descriptive of Queensland life in the 1860s and an adventure story to boot. Gloria Grant and Gerard Benjamin transcribed the manuscript and wrote its introduction and contextual notes.

BHG STUDIES NO. 6: THE MAKING OF A METROPOLIS: BRISBANE 1823-1925
2009 (256 pages), John Laverty.

This is a history of Brisbane within its regional and national setting from the time of the exploration of the area by John Oxley in 1923 until the greater City of Brisbane was established in 1925. The first section deals with the convict establishment and the economic, social, cultural and political aspects of the development of the town of Brisbane within its regional context until it was incorporated as a municipality in 1859. The second section covers the development of the town as part of the urbanisation process which was occurring across Australia during the years 1859-1925. During this period it slowly grew until it reached metropolitan status during the 1920s. The first part outlines the economic context of Brisbane’s development; the second the social aspects of that development and the third the cultural aspects of Brisbane’s social development. The third extensive section of the book deals with the organisation of municipal government in Brisbane during the years 1859-1879. It covers the operation of municipal government in Brisbane under local government legislation which was enacted during this period; the development of the council’s structures, operating procedures, staffing arrangements, the council’s relations with the government and the chequered nature of its activities. The final section offers an account of the works and services undertaken or provided during the years 1859-1879.

BHG SOURCES NO. 12: BOOSTING BRISBANE: IMPRINTING THE COLONIAL CAPITAL OF QUEENSLAND
2009 (300 pages), comp. Rod Fisher

When Queensland was separated from New South Wales on 10 December 1859, Brisbane was treated as a capital-port only for the time being. Maryborough, Rockhampton and even Ipswich were the main contenders for the title of capital.

In favouring Brisbane, a spate of line-drawings depicted its landscapes, buildings, amenities, notables and activities in the 1860s – particularly in illustrated periodicals of other colonies and overseas, pictorial letter-papers sent to family and friends plus occasional prints. To keep pace with new governmental, commercial, societal and individual demands, more images appeared on seals, bills, ads, maps, stamps, coins, medals etc including a flag, a sword and even a necklace. In addition to local newspapers, almanacs, directories and narratives, the first atlas, gardening manual and ornithology appeared.

That was until the economic slump took the wind out of the sails of immigration and investment – also the optimism and expansion engendered by Separation itself.

This book uses those line-drawings and allied sources to make a graphic journey from England to Moreton Bay, Ipswich and the Darling Downs before 1870, while dwelling upon Brisbane in particular. Through examples and artefacts it also shows how the process of publication, from art, photography, writing and engraving on metal, stone and wood to printing, affected their output. Next come those crafty persons involved in growing the local print culture visually, whether artists, engravers, lithographers, printers or stationers, and then the users themselves. Finally, the historical data on some 400 line-drawings and related artefacts in Australia is cross-referenced to the prior images in a detailed inventory.

BHG TOURS NO. 26: SITES OF SEPARATION BRISBANE HERITAGE TRAIL
2009 (78 pages), ed. Rod Fisher

A surprising amount remains of Brisbane in 1859 and the following decade when public and private buildings sprouted all over the place, resulting from the demand for local infrastructure, immigration from overseas and development of colonial resources – until the economic crash in July1866 and the painful recovery thereafter.

The Brisbane History group has produced a volume which contains two tours. The walking trail through the Brisbane CBD runs clockwise around the town, viewing past sites and present structures in the north, east, south, centre and west, and back via Wickham Terrace. The drive trail by bus takes in South to East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Fortitude Valley, around New Farm to Hamilton and Windsor, then back via Spring Hill, Petrie Terrace, Red Hill and Milton. Each tour takes approximately 1¾ hours.

This 78-page booklet edited by Rod Fisher consists of articles written by 35 contributors and covers more than 100 significant sites.

BHG PAPERS NO. 20: BRISBANE: WATER, POWER AND INDUSTRY
2008 (174 pages), ed. Carolyn Fitz-Gerald

The twentieth volume of BHG papers focuses on science and technology. The majority of papers were delivered at BHG seminars over quite a number of years, hence the range of subject matter and the broad, all encompassing title, Brisbane: Water, power and industry.

The papers under the sub-heading, ‘Water’, appropriately consider the severe flooding in Brisbane during the 1890s and the more recent 1974 flood and the decades following the formation of the Brisbane Municipal Council when squabbling at the municipal level, conflicting local and colonial government reports and a partial press, always prepared to inflame the issues, hindered progress in the establishment of an improved and less polluted water supply scheme. They examine the effects of the 1893 and the 1896 floods on Mount Crosby pumping station and look at the curious case of the pine trees in the Enoggera Waterworks reserve.

The papers dealing with power include discussions of the rise and fall of the Brisbane coal wharf and the Darra based cement plant; the horse drawn buses which once graced the streets of West End and the trams that rumbled throughout the city and its immediate suburbs; a comprehensive account of how the newly formed Greater Brisbane City Council managed to organise successfully the construction, and the subsequent running of, the New Farm powerhouse, despite overwhelming doubts and opposition; the history of electricity in Brisbane from its earliest days under Barton & White to the 1930s; the Ipswich scene and its arduous struggle to get efficient public electricity; measures adopted to minimise the effects of lightning strikes; the methods used to promote electricity and electrical appliances from the 1920s to 1950s; and, in order to keep a balance, the section closes with a history of the South Brisbane Gas Company.

The final section on manufacturing begins with an account of the trials, by fire and flood, which beset bootmaker Thomas Dixon before he constructed his architect-designed factory in 1908, and concludes by looking at the variety of toys produced by Brisbane toy makers, including some very inventive ideas.

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